A Monster Set Free
by universallyfictional23
Summary: A Doctor Who/Avengers crossover. What if the Pandorica truly had been created to hold a monster? What if its craftsmanship had Asgardian origins? And what if an enemy of humanity was set free all due to a girl's curiosity combined with a miraculous genetic code (used to open the Pandorica)? Appropriate for just about everybody! One-shot.


It was dark out when Sheila slipped out from behind the tall fake bushes in the museum room and into the moonlight streaming like silver from one of the windows. With a toss of her long orange hair, she looked around and listened. She hoped that no one was still working; she had fallen asleep on her watch in the bushes and had only just woken up. The clock on her phone said that it was 1:27A.M., but one could never be too careful.

After digging around in her satchel for her torch, she found it and switched it on, then crept towards the ancient stone artifact in the center of the room.

"The Pandorica," she whispered in awe as she stood before it. "Said to have been made to contain something, a goblin, or a trickster, or a warrior soaked in the blood of a billion galaxies. The most feared and hated being in all the cosmos. It would merely drop down out of the sky and tear down and conquer your world. But the Pandorica is said to have been used to imprison it long ago."

It was a large stone cube, about three feet taller than she was and about the width of four men. The moonlight glinted off of the markings and symbols set in the stone, curving in a circular pattern. It was simply gorgeous.

Carefully unhooking one of the barriers around it, she lowered it and stepped into the exhibit.

"Oh, you are beautiful!" She exclaimed softly, inspecting the engraving on the surface of the rough stone. "Really, you are!"

There was an inexplicable draw of curiosity to the ancient object. In her excitement, Sheila began to circle the artifact, searching it for a knob or a key hole; anything that might open the object in front of her. There were none.

"Well," she murmured to herself. "I didn't _figure_ on it being quite that easy, but a girl can hope."

She sighed and reached out with a slender, long-fingered hand to touch the stone, something that few people had ever done. The moment her fingers touched the cold, hard stone, she sighed, then leaned against it sadly.

"I wish I could open you," she whispered to herself.

**_Whirrr… CLICK. Whirrr… CLICK._**

Sheila stumbled back in shock as the circular engravings began to glow a bright green and rotated, one by one, to unlock. After several more moments, the Pandorica fell silent, then gave a strange hiss and two of the sides began to slide open. A strange, foggy, bright light spewed out of the box and the young teenager caught her breath as she stepped forward to peer into the heart of the Pandorica. She froze at the sight she saw.

There was a man in the Pandorica, a dark, handsome man with pale skin and black hair. He was clad in an outfit of leather, metal, and green fabric and sat restrained around his shoulders, waist, and wrists, rendering him immobile. He looked utterly surprised to see this thin, fiery-haired girl before him. And they both simply stared at each other for a long time. Until, finally he spoke.

"Are you an apparition of some sort, young wench?" He asked softly, his brilliant green eyes disbelieving and slightly wary.

"No, I thought you were," she admitted, stepping closer. "What on earth are you doing in there?"

"I've been imprisoned," he whispered, boring his eyes into hers, inspecting them thoroughly.

"How long have you been inside?"

"What year is it?"

She paused at this strange question, then answered. "It's August 23rd, 2115."

He exhaled. "I have been inside for far too long."

"_How long_ have you been in there?" She persisted.

He looked at her with a slight smirk. "You would not believe me if I told you, mortal."

"Probably not, but I've asked you twice now, and as the one who somehow managed to open this thing and potentially free you, I demand to know. Or would you rather wait a little longer to think about it?"

His eyes flashed in anger at the thought, but a slight smile played about his lips.

_This girl plays her cards well,_ he mused.

Nevertheless, he was not about to back down and surrender. He never did that. But he respected her intelligence a bit more now.

"Do not threaten me, child. I will tell you. I was imprisoned inside this cell of stone 102 years ago."

Her eyes narrowed and her mind blurted the obvious. _That's not possible! _

Well, he _had_ warned her.

But she collected herself and looked him over carefully, reasoning that he would not tell such a fantastic lie. So she knew that he must not be what he seemed.

"Then what are you that you could survive for such a long time?" She inquired.

He was quite pleased to see her lack of outburst. "I'll tell you as you free me," he bargained.

This made her smile briefly. "Fair enough."

Once she had freed him, the dark-haired man rubbed his wrists and leaned forward in his seat, not standing up yet. Even though Sheila was not certain she understood how he could've survived for so long, she knew that if what he said was true, then one would not simply stand up and walk away from 102 years of immobility. So, she watched him carefully with much fascination. He noticed.

"Tell me, young mortal," he began, observing her fascination with him. "Do you believe me when I say how long I've been imprisoned?"

She tilted her orange head to one side, letting her fiery hair hang like a curtain in the air. "I am willing to believe you, as you have not yet given me any reason to doubt your word. But I do not understand it or conceive how such a thing would be possible."

He smirked at this. "Are you always so naïve to immediately place trust in strangers?"

Her eyes narrowed as he insulted her intelligence.

"No, I give them the _courtesy_ of being believed upon first meeting. If I am proven wrong and should not trust them, then I alter my view without hesitation."

He raised his eyebrows at this outburst and chuckled slightly.

"You seem to have some experience with this sort of thing," he observed.

"I do," she concurred.

"Care to confide the tale of how you obtained it to the man you freed?" He asked.

"No," she said coldly, turning away. "I make a habit of not casting my pearls before swine."

"Ooh," he purred. "Why so sensitive?"

"You have your secrets, I have mine."

"Fair enough," he gauged. "But secrets can be easily read when one knows how."

She cocked her head and looked at him, puzzled.

"Explain."

With a bit of a grunt, he heaved himself to his feet for the first time in 102 years and swayed for a moment before walking over to her to stand before her. At his full height, he stood a generous six inches above her, but she did not seem perturbed or threatened in the slightest.

"Look into my eyes and tell me what you see," he commanded.

"What?" She asked, confused.

"Do as you are told," he responded simply.

Starting slightly at this suddenly authoritative air, her eyes widened, but she complied and gazed into his emerald eyes.

Much to her blushing gaze, the only thing she could see in his eyes was… beauty. Well, that is, beauty, darkness, and a strange icy edge to his gaze. But that was all.

"What do you see?" He asked.

"I see…" She trailed off for a moment. "… Ice. But that's all."

His eyes widened a bit and he raised an expressive eyebrow, looking impressed.

"Hmm, perhaps people such as you _can_ read a _bit_ of someone's life through their eyes," he mused. Then, his expression turned dark and excited. "My turn."

Taking her delicate, pale face in his hand, he raised it and gazed deeply into her widened blue eyes. His emerald eyes seemed to penetrate her walls and defenses in order to see her most well kept secrets.

"The old midgardian saying is true, eyes truly are the windows to the soul," he stated, still staring into her eyes. "Especially when they are eyes like yours, wide, observant, and filled with such delicious details of your life. Such pretty, clear, blue eyes…" He murmured with a grin, completely aware of how uncomfortable he was making her. "I see four things, the first being isolation. You are alone, my dear. Quite alone. The second is acuity. Although, I could tell that you were quite intelligent by your actions towards me when we first met. The third is pain and perhaps a touch of fear, although, what you are afraid of is entirely locked away in your astute mind. The final thing I observed was quite a distinct blush on your cheeks upon my fingers' contact with your skin," he stated with a wolfish grin. "Do you like my close proximity?"

Ducking her head slightly to hide her incalescent blush, she looked away. He was right on all accounts. It was actually a bit dis-concerning. Her eyes returned to his face and she gaped at him in shock.

"Where did you learn to do that?" She breathed, her pale cheeks flushing.

"Elsewhere," he dodged with a smirk, releasing her face.

Her expression turned a bit mocking at this. "Elsewhere? What city is that?"

He chuckled mirthlessly and acted as if he had not heard her. "Tell me, mortal. What is your name?"

She looked him over shrewdly. "Princes first," she offered with a slight bow.

His green eyes turned to dangerous slits. "How did you know that? How did you know that I was a prince?" He demanded. "Tell me!"

She smirked and yawned theatrically. "Your arrogance and clothing told me so."

"I. Am. Not. Arrogant." He hissed, taking an imposing step forward.

"Ooh, why so sensitive?" She smirked, copying his words to her.

With a rather frightening glint in his eye, the man began creeping towards her. After a moment, she began to get a bit nervous. Perhaps, she shouldn't have been such a smart-ass with him.

"Er…" She began backing up slowly, afraid of his wrath. When her back hit a wall, she did the only thing she could think of to distract him from his eminent rage. "Sheila."

"What?" He asked, stopping in confusion.

"My name, it's Sheila," she explained.

"Sheila what?"

"No last name. Just Sheila. And you?"

"Loki," he answered warily.

"Loki what?" She asked.

"Just Loki," he grinned. "No last name."

She sighed. "I suppose I set myself up for that one. But no last name? Does that mean that you're alone too?" She asked observantly.

With a slight growl, Loki turned away.

"Yes."

"Ah, finally," she began good-naturedly. "Common ground at last."

He chuckled. "And that is likely the last 'common ground' you will ever find between us."

"Then its worth just went up," she quipped, walking up behind him. "Tell me about yourself, Loki. Where are you from?"

"I shall tell you that after you tell me what you were doing in here so late, lonely Sheila," he bargained. He held up one finger. "Truthfully, if you don't mind."

"Very well," she began. "I wasn't supposed to be in here, it's after closing time. _That_," she pointed to the Pandorica, "is an ancient artifact that I've found rather fascinating for a while. But the officials don't like people getting a good look at it, let alone touching it, and I wanted to see it for myself."

"Ah, so you would be in a great deal of trouble if you got caught?" He grinned mischievously.

"Probably," she answered with a chuckle. "But, considering _your_ unexpected appearance, I might be able to get away with it. You would probably pull focus. Maybe even get in worse trouble."

"Perhaps," he responded cryptically over his shoulder as he swaggered into a ray of moonlight falling from one of the windows.

"So…" She began, skipping over to stand beside him. "What about you? Where are you from?"

"What?"

"You said you'd give me answers once I gave you some."

"Yes, well, I lied," he responded with a smirk and a chuckle.

She narrowed her blue eyes into slits. "Cheater," she growled.

"Trickster," he corrected her lightly.

"Fine," she snapped. "Well, Loki the Trickster, now that I've freed you from your stone prison, what do you plan to do? And how do you plan on repaying me?"

"Repaying you?" He asked, turning to look at her.

"Yeah, you were going to repay my service of setting you free, right? I mean, just a little thank you of some material nature?"

His lips curled into a scornful scowl as he straightened and looked down at her. "You expect me to give you something in return for your _service_ to me?"

She shrunk back slightly in unease at his tone and expression. "Y-Yes…?" She said with less conviction.

A slow, dark grin spread on his face and he began to walk towards her steadily, making her back up.

"That's awfully bold, _little_, _weak, female mortal_," he accentuated his last few words, as if he was indicating just how much danger she was in. She gulped and shrank from him, but he followed closely. "Does my name truly mean nothing to you? Do you truly not know of me?"

"N-No," she stuttered, her back hitting something stone. It was the Pandorica. "Nothing other than what I've observed of you so far."

"How insulting," he mused mildly to himself. Seeing that she was about to attempt to slip away from him, he slammed his hands against the stone on either side of her, making her gasp and jump. He gave a sinister chuckle. "Allow me to begin your education! I am Loki of Jotunheim! I am a god! I am a sorcerer! I shall rule this planet!" As her eyes grew wide in shock and fear, he gave another chuckle then slid his fingers around her throat and gripped her tightly. Struggling for air, she grabbed his wrist and tried desperately to pry his fingers away. In response, he merely lifted her off the ground slightly and leaned forward. "And I do _not thank_ my subjects, but," he paused, loosening his grip ever so slightly, watching her as she kicked in the air and strained to breathe, "I _do_ repay those who are loyal to me and assist me willingly. So, you want payment, do you? Then here," he said letting go of her throat and letting her drop to the ground with a rushed gasp of air, causing her to wheeze. "Have your life."

Once her eyes cleared and the thudding had ceased in her throat, she looked up only to see that he had disappeared. The man was gone and she wouldn't be seeing him again, not until the chaos began, anyway. So, there was nothing left for the girl to do but pick herself up and leave the building before she was caught. She was totally unaware of the monster she had just set loose on the world. If only she had thought less about _what_ was in the cage and more about _why._


End file.
